Anyone got a band aid?

I almost made it through the winter without any incidents.

The past 15 or so hours have not been my finest.

Last night got out to the car to head to the park for my 15 miler. Key wouldn't turn. This happened about a month ago and caused much frustration then (Long story short David had to come and help me get it started and then the next night I lost my car key in Kohls because I took it off the key chain since we thought maybe having too many heavy keys was causing the problem. After finding the key I rushed out to my car and dropped my camera which is now busted wide open but thankfully still works. So yeah it seems when this key crap happens shit hits the fan!) I tooled around with the key and called my dad for advice. Thankfully my coworker came out about 30 minutes later and proceeded to try the key. After another 25 minutes he found the magic combination and the key turned. So now I was running an hour behind and knew I had to go and run from home since I couldn't risk having the car not start again.

Got home and grabbed my i pod. Since the sidewalks are not shoveled I had to keep my run on the streets. Didn't want to risk major streets so I had to do my entire 15 mile run all within 1 mile of my house. (Did I mention I was really looking forward to my park run, starting at the top of a long hill then running back up it to simulate Boston) It is flat here so no hills, and not much fun to be had running up and down the same streets. I never use an i pod except for occasions where I have to run from home and have more than an hour, or when I have to run more than 45 minutes on the treadmill.

I'm not sure I would have made it last night without the i pod. 15 miles back and forth over and over again at a decent clip in the dark is just not that easy mentally or physically. For most of the run I just had Born Slippy by Underworld on repeat. The beat was good for the pace I was running and it's a song that doesn't get annoying the more you listen to it. Towards the end I opted for some JT to get me through.

I'm going to call this route the "comb" route. Start from my house and run one mile then on the way back run up and down 6 of 8 side streets that are all about a quarter mile long. Grab a handheld with water and a nature valley bar and head back out this time running up and down all 8 streets to get in another 5 miles by the time I hit the end of the street. Then turn around and run all 8 streets back and forth again to finish out the run. I'll have to measure the actual distance but close enough for now. My splits on all the side streets were close to the same so I assume they are all about the same length, if anything a little long. Around mile 12 I got a severe side stitch on my left side. It had been coming on for a few miles but was tolerable. At this point I could no longer run through it so I walked 30 seconds and then ran slowly for a mile before it subsided. I managed to get back on pace for the last few miles to finish out the run. Other than that one mile stretch my pace was even the whole way. 42 minutes per what I guesstimate was a 5 mile stretch and 44 minutes on the last 5 miles due to losing 2 minutes on mile 12.

I started so late that we didn't get dinner until 9:45 and didn't get to bed until almost 11 PM. Then this morning it was up at 5 to head out and get my 9 miler in before work. Went to start the car and it again would not work. Fooled around with it for 10 minutes before giving up and taking David's car downtown to get in my run and grab files from work so I could work from home.

Got in 27 minutes before hooking up with Bridget. I had been moving pretty sluggishly but managed to suck it up and pick up the pace to keep up with her. It felt quick but my pace gauge has been completely out of whack so I trusted that it was 8:36-8:45 since that is what Bridget has been running most of her miles at. Around 20 minutes into my run with Bridget is when I took my fancy spill. There was one stretch of sidewalk that wasn't clear and I somehow managed to lose my footing and went down pretty hard. I slid from ankle to hip on my right side. Laid there for a minute before letting Bridget help me up. Looked down and damage didn't appear too bad so we kept running. Got in about 53 minutes with Bridget then headed out to tack on 10 more minutes to make sure I got in 9 miles. Turns out I probably didn't need too add those minutes as google pedometer had my run with Bridget closer to 6.5 than 5.5 so I probably got in closer to 10 this morning. Surveyed the damage a little closer and realized that if I lifted my shorts I had a nice strawberry going. That's going to smart tomorrow.

Headed to the office to grab files and clean up. Got home and showered then tried again to get the car started. No luck. Called the dealership and the guy tells me to smack the end of the key. That worked so I took the car off to the dealership and for a meager $300 they are going to replace my key mechanism. Got a ride home from them and now I just have to wait for the dealership to call and hopefully my father in law will be able to take me to pick the car up before it closes. I am debating getting some work done or burying my head under the covers. Thankfully I will be downtown tomorrow so I can make up some work then if I don't get in 8 hours today.

Just had some apple rasberry pie and pizza and am starting to feel more human again. The scrapes on my shin hurt pretty badly I think I must have caught a piece of ice or something that actually cut rather than scraped. The hip looks horrible. Both areas are swelling a ton. I don't even want to think about it. Going to put on some bacitracin and hope for the best.